Full-closure type venetian blinds



1965 H. K. LORENTZEN ETAL 3,170,505

FULL-CLOSURE TYPE VENETIAN BLINDS Original Filed May 12, 1955 2Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG..|

40 3 (REAR EDGE i I I l l l I 36 l I p-LADDER ZONE- 1 \FRONT EDGE REAREDGE O on 09.00 .4 or...

JosEm-I' A. ANDERLE JAuEs J. KAPELLER JR.

H95 hmgfmw x ATTORNEYS 1965 H. K. LORENTZEN ETAL 3,170,505

FULL-CLOSURE TYPE VENETIAN BLINDS Original Filed May 12, 1955 2Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. IO IFIG.8 FIG.9

FIG.|2

INVENTORS HANS K. LORENTZEN JOSEPH A. ANDERLE JAMES J. KAPELLER JR.

M -r Mw. ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,170,505 FULL-CLOSURE TYPEVENETIAN BLINDS Hans K. Lorentzen, Montclair, Joseph A. Anderle,Clifton, and James J. Kapeller, In, East Rutherford, NJ, assignors toLevolor Lorentzen, Inc., Hoboken, N.J., a corporation of New JerseyContinuation of application Ser. No. 507,782, May 12, 1955. Thisapplication Dec. 27, 1962, Ser. No. 247,721 11 Claims. (Cl. 160-176)This invention relates to Venetian blinds, and more particularly toVenetian blinds which allow the overlapped slats to move substantiallyinto contact. This gives the blind greater light-excluding capacity, andsuch blinds have. been referred to in the trade as black-out blinds andfull-closure blinds.

The present application is a continuation of our application SerialNumber 507,782, filed May 12, 1955, now abandoned.

A Venetian blind, of the class to which the present invention isapplicable, is essentially an assembly of superimposed articulated slatssuspended from a head bar or head extending across the top of the blindand .on or in which is mounted mechanism which comes into play inraising and tilting the slats of the blind. Such a blind is usuallyraised by two lift cords which begin at a depending loop that hangs onthe front or room side of the blind, extend upwardly into the head,partially across the head to respective pulleys or other cord-guidingand direction-changing means at locations spaced along the width of theblind, and then downwardly (ordinarily through holes in the slats) tothe bottom bar. The slats and bottom bar are conventionally tiltablethrough approximately ,180 from one blind-closed position, through theblind-open position in which the slats lie horizontal, to a secondblind-closed position.

In the blind-closed positions of many Venetian blinds the overlappededge portions of adjacent slats cannot approach each other any moreclosely than is permitted by the diameter of the lift cord, whichextends between the overlapped edges. In full-closure blinds thislimitation on the approach of the overlapped edge portions to each otheris reduced or eliminated, at least as regards the tilting of the slatsin one direction, so that the overlapped edge portions of adjacent slatscan move closer together or even into contact.

' Blind constructions and arrangements have been proposed from time totime to render Venetian blinds fullclosing to various degrees. However,the full-closing type blinds of the prior art have disadvantages ofvarious sorts, among which are lack of simplicity in structure,manufacture and assembly, extra parts, weakening of certain parts, sharpcorners which tend to snag dust cloths and brushes, openings which admitlight despite substantial contact of the overlapped slats, etc.

Among the objects of the present invention are to render a Venetianblind substantially full-closing without complicating the structure ofthe blind or employing additional parts, to render a Venetian blindsubsanially full-closing without unduly weakening any of its parts, toprovide a full-closing type Venetian blind which is free of sharpcorners that are likely to snag dust cloths or the like, to provide afull-closing type Venetian blind in which openings that are in the slatsare well shielded from the transmission of light, to provide for afullclosure type Venetian blind parts which can be rapidly andeconomically manufactured on a quantity-production basis, and to providea full-closure type Venetian blind which can be rapidly and economicallyassembled.

Other objects and advantages, and objects and advantages relating todetails of construction, assembly, operation, and use, will be apparentfrom the detailed description which follows.

ladders.

Ice

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary, somewhat diagrammatic front elevation of aVenetian blind embodying the present invention, the room side of theblind being considered as the front of the blind, and a portion of oneof the ladders being broken away.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary end view looking from the right of FIGURE 1,the blind being in open position and portions of the lift cords beingbroken away.

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2, the blind being fully closed.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary plan view of one of the slats, on a largerscale than FIGURES l-3.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary isometic view of one of the ladders of theblind illustrated in FIGURES l-3 and 6-9.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing one slat of the bindtilted for substantial full closure, the relation thereto of the ladderand lift cord being indicated.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary end view, looking from the right of FIGURE 1,showing the position of the slats as they approach full closure.

FIGURE 9 is a view similar to FIGURE 8 but showing the slats fullyclosed.

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary side elevation showing a modification of theladder shown in FIGURE 5.

FIGURE ll is a fragmentary isometric view showing a further form ofladder in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 12 is a fragmentary side elevation showing a modification of theladder shown in FIGURE 11.

Reference will first be had to FIGURES l, 2 and 3. The blind, designatedas a whole by 14, includes a head 15, a series of slats 16, ladders 17(one shown), and a bottom bar 19. The blind is adapted to be counted asa unit in conventional manner by means of a pair of installationbrackets 20 of known form (one shown), the brackets being attached tothe jamb of a window, for example, and receiving the ends of the head15.

The blind includes a pair of ladders, such as ladder 17, thoughadditional ladders may be used in the case of a wide blind. A lift-cordloop 21 hangs on the front (room side) of the blind. From this loop liftcords 24 and 25 extend upwardly through a cord equalizer 26 of knowntype and thence into'the head, where these cords are arranged in knownmanner in connection with known means for guiding and changing thedirection of the lift cords and for locking the lift cords to secure theblind in fully or selected partially raised positions. One lift cord,for example cord 24, extends from the head downwardly at the ladder 17and is attached to the bottom bar. The lift cord 25 is arranged insimilar manner, extending downwardly at the other ladder of theaforesaid pair of When the loop 21 is pulled downwardly, the blind israised in conventional manner.

The ladder 17 has front and rear vertical tapes 29 and 30 connected bycross tapes 31 on each of which one of the slats 16 rests. The entireladder 17 may be made of suitable plastic material. Each cross tape 31has at each end oppositely disposed integral tabs 32 and 34 (FIG- URE 5)which are fixedly secured to the vertical tapes 29 and 30 as by heat andpressure. Near but spaced from each end of the cross tape is a pair ofoppositely positioned notches 35, 35 the two pairs of notches beingsymmetrically positioned with respect to the transverse central axis ofthe cross tape. The cross tapes 31 are arranged in a single tier asshown in FIGURE 1.

The slats 16 are all alike and all of them cooperate in the same mannerwith the ladders and with the lift cords. The slats are made of suitablesheet material, preferably metal, and they are upwardly crowned as shownin FIGURE 2.

Referring to FIGURE 4, which shows a fragment of.

one of the slats 16 including the ladder zone, the slat has an elongatedtransverse opening 36 which is somewhat wider than the thickness of thelift cord, the transverse central axis of the opening lying closer tothe front edge of the slat' than it does to the rear edge of the slat.

Aligned with the transverse opening 36 is a notch 37 in the rear edge ofthe slat. Spaced inwardly as shown from the rear edge of the slat is anelongated longitudinal hole 39 which is longitudinally offset withrespect to the edge notch. 37. An entrance slot 40- leads from the rearedge of the slat to the hole 39.

Referring to FIGURES 2 and 6, the front edge of the slat 16 restsdirectly on the cross tape 31 in abutting relation to the front verticaltape 29 of the ladder. As the cross tape 31 approaches the rear verticaltape 30 of the ladder, it passes upwardly through the hole 39. As

shown, the cross tape is wider than the length of hole 39 and thenotches 35, 35 interlock with the slat at the ends .of the hole 39, oneside of each notch 35 constituting a shoulder 38 which engages the topof the slat. Preferably, the notches 35, 35 are wide enough, and theneck portion 41 of the cross tape narrow enough, to avoid chafing encalabout its central transverse axis, so that in assembling a blind eitherone of the vertical tapes of the ladder may be used as the rear tape.

The upper ends of front and rear vertical tapes 29 and 30 are attachedin known manner. to a suitable tape rocker v44, indicated in dottedlines in FIGURES 2 and 3. In tilting the blind, the rocker is shifted inknown manner so that it raises oneof the vertical tapes of the ladderand simultaneously lowers the other vertical tape of the ladder, as iswell understood in the art. With the blind of the present invention, thegreatest light exclusion is obtained by turning the tape rocker 44 insuch direction that it raises the front tape 29 and lowers the rear tape30, bringing the blind to the condition shown in FIGURE 3.

Reference will now be had to FIGURES 7, 8,.and 9. In FIGURE 8 the slatsare approaching fully closed position and in FIGURE 9 they have reachedfully closed position, the rear edges of the slats now being lowermost.Since the upper ends of the vertical tapes 29 and 30 are held apart bythe tape rocker 44, the effect of such spacing must be overcome to aconsiderable extent if the overlapping portions of the slats are to bebrought into contact. As may be seen in FIGURE 8, the upward pull onfront vertical tape 29 is transmitted to the now depending cross tape 31and broughtto bear upon slat 16 at the location of hole 39 Which-isinterlocked with the notches 35, 35. This hole 39 is removed from (i.e.,spaced from) the now lower edge of the slat, and hence the cross tapeacts to pull this edge-removed zone of the slat directly toward theoverlapped slat beneath. Thus, the bottom zone of the slat is drawndirectly toward the overlapped portion of the slat beneath, leaving rearvertical tape 30 spaced from the slats.

The lift cord depends vertically between the front and rear verticaltapes 29 and 30, passing through the transverse opening 36 in the slat.As the slat moves into fully tilted position, the notch 37 in the slatreceives the lift cord, e.g., cord 24, and permits the lower edge of theslat to move into contact with the overlapped slat beneath withoutlimitation imposed by the thickness of the lift cord.' This fully closedcondition of the blind is shown in FIGURE 9 and the correspondingposition of a single slat is shown in FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 10 illustrates a modification of the ladder shown in FIGURES 1through 9. This has cross tapes 31 each provided with pairs of notches35', 35 (one notch of each pair shown) arranged in the same manner asthe notches of the cross tape shown in FIGURE 5. To compensate fortheweakening of the cross tape by the notches, the cross tape in FIGURE10 is thickened in zones. 45, 45, the thickening extending throughoutthe entire width of the cross tape.

The form of ladder shown in FIGURE 11 is the same as that shown inFIGURE 5 except that the neck portion 41a of the cross tape 31a extendsentirely across the central portion of the cross tape, leaving a pair ofshoulders 47, 47 near each end of the cross tape, these shoulderscorresponding to the outward sides of the notches 35,35.

, When this form of cross tape is used, these shoulders act to pull thelower zone of the tilted slat into contact with the slat beneath, as wasexplained in connection with FIGURE 8. p

The ladder shovm in FIGURE 12 is the same as that shown in FIGURE 11except'that the cross tape is thickened in the .zone 50 to compensatefor the weakening caused by the long neck 41a shown in FIGURE 11. Thisthickening extends throughout the width of the neck and throughout thewidth of the tape in zones adjacent to the ends of the neck.

The blind described may, of course, be tilted in the direction oppositeto that shown in FIGURE 3, in which case the rear vertical tapes of theladders are raised and the front vertical tapes of the ladders arelowered. When the blind is tilted in this direction, the lift cordslimit the degree of closure; also the slats are in a less favorableposition to block light coming downwardly at an angle from the sky.

Under breezy conditions the slats of Venetian blinds are subject toflutter and chatter, particularly when the blinds are closed. Thistendency to flutter and chatter is aggravated when the slats are fullyclosed because there is little space between the slats through which tovent .the pressure imposed by the breeze striking the blind.

edge of the tilted slat toward the front vertical tape 29,

themovement is opposed by the contact of the lower edge with the slatbeneath, the slat beneath having its upper edge against the stumpportion of the cross tape. Likewise, if the wind tends to blow the upperedge of the slat in either direction, the movementis opposed-movementtoward the front vertical tape 29 being opposed by the stump ofthe-cross tape and movement toward the rear vertical tape 30 beingopposed, by the lower edge of the slat above. The. result is that thefully tilted slat is effectively held against flutter to a markedextent, despite the fact that the blind does not have openingsbetweenslats which, will readily vent wind pressure that builds up against theblind.

We claim:

1. In a Venetian ,blind of the full-closure type in which (a) aplurality of ladders have front and rear vertical tapes, that areinterconnected by vertically-spaced cross tapes, (b) crowned slats aresupported by the cross tapes, (0) lift cords depend between the frontand rear vertical tapes and pass through elongated transverse openingsin the slats, and (d) the rear edges of the slats are formed to moveastride of the lift cords when the blind is closed; the improvementwhich comprises: the slatshaving openings through which the cross tapespass close to but spaced from the rear edges of the slats, .the crosstapes having shoulders which, when the slats are horizontal, engage thetops of the slats at points close to but spaced from the rear edges ofthe slats whereby, when the blind is closed with the rear edges of theslats depressed, the cross tapes pull the lower edges of the slats awayfrom the rear vertical tapes and against the faces of the subjacentslats.

2. The improvement as in claim 1 in which the front edges of the slatsare continuous straight edges.

3. The improvement as in claim 1 in which the openings through which thecross tapes pass are elongated ones extending longitudinally of theslats, and the portions of the cross tapes that lie between the openingsand the rear vertical tapes are wider than the lengths of the openings.

4. The improvement as in claim 1 in which the openings through which thecross tapes pass are elongated ones extending longitudinally of theslats, and on both sides of the slats the cross tapes have portions thatare adjacent to the openingsand are wider than the lengths of theopenings.

5. The improvement as in claim 1 in which the front edges of the slatsare continuous straight edges, the openings through which the crosstapes pass are elongated ones extending longitudinally of the slats, andthe portions of the cross tapes that lie between the openings and therear vertical tapes are wider than the lengths of the openings.

6. A full-closure Venetian blind comprising: a plurality of laddershaving front and rear vertical tapes that are interconnected byvertically-spaced cross tapes, crowned slats supported by the crosstapes, the slats having openings adjacent to their rear edges throughwhich the cross tapes pass at points that are in spaced relation to therear edges of the slats, and the cross tapes having shoulders which bearagainst the tops of the slats when the slats are horizontal and whichwhen the blind is closed with the rear edges of the slats depressedcause the lower edges of the slats to contact the faces of the subjacentslats.

7. A Venetian blind comprising: a plurality of crowned slats havingopenings adjacent to one edge thereof, said one edge being normally atthe bottom when said slats are tilted closed, ladders supporting saidslats in verticallyspaced arrangement, each of said ladders comprisingfront and rear vertical tapes of soft pliable material and a pluralityof vertically-spaced cross tapes of soft pliable material extendingbetween said vertical tapes, the width of said slats from the innermostsides of said openings to the opposite edges of the slats being lessthan the length of said cross tapes, said cross tapes passing under saidslats and through said openings and engaging the slats at the innermostsides of said openings, and said cross tapes being shaped to provideshoulder means thereon engageable with the slats toward the bottom edgesthereof to hold the slats against sliding down into the junctions ofsaid cross tapes with said rear vertical tapes when said slats aretilted closed.

8. A Venetian blind comprising: a plurality of crowned slats havingopenings adjacent to one edge thereof, said one edge being normally atthe bottom when said slats are tilted closed, ladders supporting saidslats in vertically-spaced arrangement, each of said ladders comprising'front and rear vertical tapes of soft pliable material and a pluralityof vertically-spaced cross tapes of soft pliable material extendingbetween said vertical tapes, the width'of said slats from the innermostsides of said openings to the opposite edges of the slats being lessthan the length of said cross tapes, each of said cross tapes includingend portions adjoining said vertical tapes, the intermediate portions ofsaid cross tapes between said end portions being narrower in width thanthe end portions, there being shoulders at the junctions of saidintermediate portions with those end portions which adjoin the rearvertical tapes, said cross tapes passing under said slats and throughsaid openings and engaging the slats at the innermost sides of saidopenings, said shoulders on said cross tapes being spaced inwardly fromthe rear vertical tapes and engaging said slats at the ends of saidopenings to hold the slats against sliding down into the junctions ofthe cross tapes with the rear vertical tapes when the slats are tiltedclosed.

9. A Venetian blind as in claim 7 in which said shoulder means includestwo shoulders, one shoulder being at one edge of the cross tape andbeing engageable with the slat at one end of the slat-opening throughwhich the cross tape passes, and the other shoulder being at theopposite edge of the cross tape and being engageable with the slat atthe opposite end of the slat-opening through which the cross tapepasses.

10. A Venetian blind as in claim 8 in which each cross tape has two ofsaid shoulders, one at one edge of the cross tape and the other at theother edge of the cross tape.

11. A Venetian blind comprising: a plurality of crowned slats havingopenings for the passage of cross tapes therethrough at locations closeto the rear edges thereof, the rear edges of the slats being normally atthe bottom when said slats are tilted closed; and ladders supportingsaid slats in vertically-spaced arrangement, each of said ladderscomprising front and rear vertical tapes of soft pliable material and aplurality of vertically-spaced cross tapes of soft pliable materialextending between said vertical tapes, the lengths of the cross tapesbeing greater than the width of said slats from the front edges of theslats to the nearest edges of said openings in the slats, said'crosstapes passing under said slats when the slats are horizontal and throughsaid openings to positions above the tops of the slats and thence to therear Vertical tapes, and said cross tapes having means which engage theslats toward the bottom edge thereof when the slats are tilted closedand hold the tilted slats against sliding down into the junctions of thecross tapes with the rear vertical tapes.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,815,196 7/31French et a1 -178 X 2,052,379 8/36 Brent 160-178 2,170,938 8/39 Carreraset a1 160-178 2,276,425 3/42 Slattery 160-178 X 2,471,710 5/49 Adler160-178 2,537,865 1/51 Stuber et a] 160-178 2,570,018 10/51 Williamson160-62 2,572,224 10/51 Walker 160-173 2,573,700 11/51- Ferguson et al.160-173 2,576,159 11/51 Walker 160-178 2,577,227 12/51 Brent 160-1782,618,330 11/52 Janowsky 160-178 2,646,115 I 7/53 Bucker et al 160-1732,690,215 9/54 Croxen 160-173 2,771,946 11/56 Dixon 160-178 CHARLES E.OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Examiner.

1.IN A VENETAIN BLIND OF THE FULL-CLOSURE TYPE IN WHICH (A) A PLURALITYOF LADDERS HAVE FRONT AND REAR VERTICAL TAPES THAT ARE INTERCONNECTED BYVERTICALLY-SPACED CROSS TAPES, (B) CROWNED SLATS ARE SUPPORTED BY THECROSS TAPES, (C) LIFT CORDS DEPEND BETWEEN THE FRONT AND REAR VERTICALTAPES AND PASS THROUGH ELONGATED TRANSVERSE OPENINGS IN THE SLATS, AND(D) THE REAR EDGES OF THE SLATS ARE FORMED TO MOVE ASTRIDE OF THE LIFTCORDS WHEN THE BLIND IS CLOSED; THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES: THESLATS HAVING OPENINGS THROUGH WHICH THE CROSS TAPES PASS CLOSE TO BUTSPACED